Concepts for electronic door hangers

ABSTRACT

Computer program products, methods, systems, apparatus, and computing entities are provided. In one embodiment, a connection between an electronic door hanger and a customer computing entity can be established at a customer&#39;s location. With a connection established, information about an attempted (e.g., successful/unsuccessful) pick-up or delivery can be automatically provided to the customer computing entity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 10,192,190, filed on20 Nov. 2014 and entitled “Concepts for Electronic Door Hangers,” whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/906,511, filedNov. 20, 2013, each of which is hereby incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

With the increasing demand of customer-focused pick-ups and deliveriesof items, new technologies are needed for communicating relevantinformation to customers in a timely and easy to use manner.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present invention provide methods,apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or thelike for providing notifications using electronic door hangers.

In accordance with one aspect, a method is provided. In one embodiment,the method comprises (1) responsive to a connection button associatedwith a customer computing entity being activated, automaticallyestablishing a connection between an electronic door hanger and thecustomer computing entity within a configurable time period; and (2)responsive to automatically establishing the connection between theelectronic door hanger and the customer computing entity, automaticallyproviding, via a user computing entity operated by a carrier operator atthe customer's location, a notification regarding a pick-up or adelivery of an item to the customer computing entity.

In accordance with yet another aspect, a system comprising a usercomputing entity and an electronic door hanger is provided. In oneembodiment, the system is configured to (1) responsive to a connectionbutton associated with a customer computing entity being activated,automatically establish, via the electronic door hanger, a connectionbetween an electronic door hanger and the customer computing entitywithin a configurable time period; and (2) responsive to automaticallyestablishing the connection between the electronic door hanger and thecustomer computing entity, automatically provide, via the user computingentity operated by a carrier operator at the customer's location, anotification regarding a pick-up or a delivery of an item to thecustomer computing entity.

In accordance with one aspect, a method is provided. In one embodiment,the method comprises (1) monitoring a location of an electronic doorhanger, a location of a customer computing entity, or both, wherein (a)a customer associated with the customer computing entity is registeredfor notification services and (b) the electronic door hanger is placedat the customer's location; (2) determining whether the electronic doorhanger and the customer computing entity are within a configurabledistance from each other; and (3) responsive to determining that theelectronic door hanger and the customer computing entity are within theconfigurable distance from each other, automatically providing anotification regarding a pick-up or a delivery of an item to anelectronic destination address associated with the customer'snotification preferences.

In accordance with another aspect, a computer program product isprovided. The computer program product may comprise at least onecomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codeportions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portionscomprising executable portions configured to (1) monitor a location ofan electronic door hanger, a location of a customer computing entity, orboth, wherein (a) a customer associated with the customer computingentity is registered for notification services and (b) the electronicdoor hanger is placed at the customer's location; (2) determine whetherthe electronic door hanger and the customer computing entity are withina configurable distance from each other; and (3) responsive todetermining that the electronic door hanger and the customer computingentity are within the configurable distance from each other,automatically provide a notification regarding a pick-up or a deliveryof an item to an electronic destination address associated with thecustomer's notification preferences.

In accordance with yet another aspect, an apparatus comprising at leastone processor and at least one memory including computer program code isprovided. In one embodiment, the at least one memory and the computerprogram code may be configured to, with the processor, cause theapparatus to (1) monitor a location of an electronic door hanger, alocation of a customer computing entity, or both, wherein (a) a customerassociated with the customer computing entity is registered fornotification services and (b) the electronic door hanger is placed atthe customer's location; (2) determine whether the electronic doorhanger and the customer computing entity are within a configurabledistance from each other; and (3) responsive to determining that theelectronic door hanger and the customer computing entity are within theconfigurable distance from each other, automatically provide anotification regarding a pick-up or a delivery of an item to anelectronic destination address associated with the customer'snotification preferences.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an overview of a system that can be used to practiceembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a carrier/transportercomputing entity according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a customer computing entityaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, and 4G are electronic door hangersaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are flowcharts illustrating operations and processesthat can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 6-8 are exemplary input and output produced with variousembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention now will be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theseinventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. The term “or” is used herein in both the alternativeand conjunctive sense, unless otherwise indicated. The terms“illustrative” and “exemplary” are used to be examples with noindication of quality level. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

I. COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS, METHODS, AND COMPUTING ENTITIES

Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in various ways,including as computer program products that comprise articles ofmanufacture. A computer program product may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing applications, programs, programmodules, scripts, source code, program code, object code, byte code,compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions,and/or the like (also referred to herein as executable instructions,instructions for execution, computer program products, program code,and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). Such non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media(including volatile and non-volatile media).

In one embodiment, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium mayinclude a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state storage(SSS) (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD), solid state card (SSC), solidstate module (SSM), enterprise flash drive, magnetic tape, or any othernon-transitory magnetic medium, and/or the like. A non-volatilecomputer-readable storage medium may also include a punch card, papertape, optical mark sheet (or any other physical medium with patterns ofholes or other optically recognizable indicia), compact disc read onlymemory (CD-ROM), compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW), digital versatile disc(DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD), any other non-transitory optical medium,and/or the like. Such a non-volatile computer-readable storage mediummay also include read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory(PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (e.g.,Serial, NAND, NOR, and/or the like), multimedia memory cards (MMC),secure digital (SD) memory cards, SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash (CF)cards, Memory Sticks, and/or the like. Further, a non-volatilecomputer-readable storage medium may also include conductive-bridgingrandom access memory (CBRAM), phase-change random access memory (PRAM),ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM), non-volatile random-accessmemory (NVRAM), magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), resistiverandom-access memory (RRAM), Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon memory(SONOS), floating junction gate random access memory (FJG RAM),Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, a volatile computer-readable storage medium mayinclude random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM),static random access memory (SRAM), fast page mode dynamic random accessmemory (FPM DRAM), extended data-out dynamic random access memory (EDODRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double datarate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), double datarate type two synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR2 SDRAM),double data rate type three synchronous dynamic random access memory(DDR3 SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), TwinTransistor RAM (TTRAM), Thyristor RAM (T-RAM), Zero-capacitor (Z-RAM),Rambus in-line memory module (RIMM), dual in-line memory module (DIMM),single in-line memory module (SIMM), video random access memory (VRAM),cache memory (including various levels), flash memory, register memory,and/or the like. It will be appreciated that where embodiments aredescribed to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types ofcomputer-readable storage media may be substituted for or used inaddition to the computer-readable storage media described above.

As should be appreciated, various embodiments of the present inventionmay also be implemented as methods, apparatus, systems, computingdevices, computing entities, and/or the like. As such, embodiments ofthe present invention may take the form of an apparatus, system,computing device, computing entity, and/or the like executinginstructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to performcertain steps or operations. Thus, embodiments of the present inventionmay also take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirelycomputer program product embodiment, and/or an embodiment that comprisescombination of computer program products and hardware performing certainsteps or operations.

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with referenceto block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Thus, it should beunderstood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations may be implemented in the form of a computer programproduct, an entirely hardware embodiment, a combination of hardware andcomputer program products, and/or apparatus, systems, computing devices,computing entities, and/or the like carrying out instructions,operations, steps, and similar words used interchangeably (e.g., theexecutable instructions, instructions for execution, program code,and/or the like) on a computer-readable storage medium for execution.For example, retrieval, loading, and execution of code may be performedsequentially such that one instruction is retrieved, loaded, andexecuted at a time. In some exemplary embodiments, retrieval, loading,and/or execution may be performed in parallel such that multipleinstructions are retrieved, loaded, and/or executed together. Thus, suchembodiments can produce specifically-configured machines performing thesteps or operations specified in the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations. Accordingly, the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support various combinations of embodiments for performingthe specified instructions, operations, or steps.

II. EXEMPLARY SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 1 provides an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , this particular embodiment mayinclude one or more carrier/transporter computing entities 100, one ormore items 102, one or more networks 105, one or more vehicles 107, oneor more customer computing entities 110, one or more electronic doorhangers 115, one or more user computing entities 120, and/or the like.Each of these components, entities, devices, systems, and similar wordsused herein interchangeably may be in direct or indirect communicationwith, for example, one another over the same or different wired orwireless networks. Additionally, while FIG. 1 illustrates the varioussystem entities as separate, standalone entities, the variousembodiments are not limited to this particular architecture.

1. Exemplary Carrier/Transporter Computing Entity

FIG. 2 provides a schematic of a carrier/transporter computing entity100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A carrier maybe a traditional carrier, such as United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx,DHL, courier services, the United States Postal Service (USPS), CanadianPost, freight companies (e.g. truck-load, less-than-truckload, railcarriers, air carriers, ocean carriers, etc.), and/or the like. However,a carrier may also be a nontraditional carrier, such as Amazon, Google,Uber, ride-sharing services, crowd-sourcing services, retailers, and/orthe like. In general, the terms computing entity, computer, entity,device, system, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably mayrefer to, for example, one or more computers, computing entities,desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops,distributed systems, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii),watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximity beacons, key fobs, radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles,cameras, wristbands, kiosks, input terminals, servers or servernetworks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processingentities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access points, basestations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entitiesadapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes describedherein. Such functions, operations, and/or processes may include, forexample, transmitting, receiving, operating on, processing, displaying,storing, determining, creating/generating, monitoring, evaluating,comparing, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably. In oneembodiment, these functions, operations, and/or processes can beperformed on data, content, information, and/or similar terms usedherein interchangeably.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also include one or more communications interfaces 220for communicating with various computing entities, such as bycommunicating data, content, information, and/or similar terms usedherein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on,processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. For instance, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may communicate with customercomputing entities 110, electronic door hangers 115, user computingentities 120, and/or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2 , in one embodiment, the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 may include or be in communication with one or moreprocessing elements 205 (also referred to as processors, processingcircuitry, processing device, and/or similar terms used hereininterchangeably) that communicate with other elements within thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 via a bus, for example. As willbe understood, the processing element 205 may be embodied in a number ofdifferent ways. For example, the processing element 205 may be embodiedas one or more complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs),microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities,application- specific instruction-set processors (ASIPs),microcontrollers, and/or controllers. Further, the processing element205 may be embodied as one or more other processing devices orcircuitry. The term circuitry may refer to an entirely hardwareembodiment or a combination of hardware and computer program products.Thus, the processing element 205 may be embodied as integrated circuits,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), hardwareaccelerators, other circuitry, and/or the like. As will therefore beunderstood, the processing element 205 may be configured for aparticular use or configured to execute instructions stored in volatileor non-volatile media or otherwise accessible to the processing element205. As such, whether configured by hardware or computer programproducts, or by a combination thereof, the processing element 205 may becapable of performing steps or operations according to embodiments ofthe present invention when configured accordingly.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayfurther include or be in communication with non-volatile media (alsoreferred to as non-volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memorycircuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In oneembodiment, the non-volatile storage or memory may include one or morenon-volatile storage or memory media 210, including but not limited tohard disks, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memorycards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJGRAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. As will berecognized, the non-volatile storage or memory media may storedatabases, database instances, database management systems, data,applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, objectcode, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,executable instructions, and/or the like. The terms database, databaseinstance, database management system, and/or similar terms used hereininterchangeably may refer to a structured collection of records or datathat is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as via arelational database, hierarchical database, and/or network database.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayfurther include or be in communication with volatile media (alsoreferred to as volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memorycircuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In oneembodiment, the volatile storage or memory may also include one or morevolatile storage or memory media 215, including but not limited to RAM,DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory,register memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the volatilestorage or memory media may be used to store at least portions of thedatabases, database instances, database management systems, data,applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, objectcode, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,executable instructions, and/or the like being executed by, for example,the processing element 205. Thus, the databases, database instances,database management systems, data, applications, programs, programmodules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code,interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the likemay be used to control certain aspects of the operation of thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 with the assistance of theprocessing element 205 and operating system.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also include one or more communications interfaces 220for communicating with various computing entities, such as bycommunicating data, content, information, and/or similar terms usedherein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on,processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may beexecuted using a wired data transmission protocol, such as fiberdistributed data interface (FDDI), digital subscriber line (DSL),Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, data over cableservice interface specification (DOCSIS), or any other wiredtransmission protocol. Similarly, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may be configured to communicate via wireless externalcommunication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such asgeneral packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA20001× (1×RTT), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long TermEvolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access(HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi),Wi-Fi Direct, 802.16 (WiMAX), ultra wideband (UWB), infrared (IR)protocols, near field communication (NFC) protocols, Bluetoothprotocols, Wibree, Home Radio Frequency (HomeRF), Simple WirelessAbstract Protocol (SWAP), wireless universal serial bus (USB) protocols,and/or any other wireless protocol.

Although not shown, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayinclude or be in communication with one or more input elements, such asa keyboard input, a mouse input, a touch screen/display input, motioninput, movement input, audio input, pointing device input, joystickinput, keypad input, and/or the like. The carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also include or be in communication with one or moreoutput elements (not shown), such as audio output, video output,screen/display output, motion output, movement output, and/or the like.Further, an electronic door hanger 115 may have a locking/unlockingmechanism that can be activated/deactivated remotely or locally by acarrier/transporter computing entity 100, customer computing entity 110,and/or user computing entity 120.

As will be appreciated, one or more of the carrier/transporter computingentity's 100 components may be located remotely from othercarrier/transporter computing entity 100 components, such as in adistributed system. Furthermore, one or more of the components may becombined and additional components performing functions described hereinmay be included in the carrier/transporter computing entity 100. Thus,the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can be adapted toaccommodate a variety of needs and circumstances. As will be recognized,these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposesonly and are not limiting to the various embodiments.

2. Exemplary Vehicle

In various embodiments, the term vehicle 107 is used generically. Forexample, a carrier/transporter vehicle 107 may be a manned or anunmanned tractor, a truck, a car, a motorcycle, a moped, a Segway, abicycle, a golf cart, a hand truck, a cart, a trailer, a tractor andtrailer combination, a van, a flatbed truck, a vehicle, a drone, anairplane, a helicopter, a boat, a barge, and/or any other form of objectfor moving or transporting people and/or items (e.g., one or morepackages, parcels, bags, containers, loads, crates, items bandedtogether, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like, and/or similar wordsused herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, each vehicle 107 may beassociated with a unique vehicle identifier (such as a vehicle ID) thatuniquely identifies the vehicle 107. The unique vehicle ID (e.g.,trailer ID, tractor ID, vehicle ID, and/or the like) may includecharacters, such as numbers, letters, symbols, and/or the like. Forexample, an alphanumeric vehicle ID (e.g., “AS”) may be associated witheach vehicle 107. In another embodiment, the unique vehicle ID may bethe license plate, registration number, or other identifying informationassigned to the vehicle 107.

Various computing entities, devices, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably can be associated with the vehicle 107, such as a datacollection device or other computing entities. In general, the termscomputing entity, entity, device, system, and/or similar words usedherein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers,computing entities, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets,notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox,Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximity beacons, keyfobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles, cameras,wristbands, kiosks, input terminals, servers or server networks, blades,gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-topboxes, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like,and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform thefunctions, operations, and/or processes described herein. The datacollection device may collect telematics data (including location data)and transmit/send the data to the mobile computing entity, the mappingcomputing entity, and/or various other computing entities via one ofseveral communication methods.

In one embodiment, the data collection device may include, be associatedwith, or be in wired or wireless communication with one or moreprocessors (various exemplary processors are described in greater detailbelow), one or more location-determining devices or one or more locationsensors (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors), oneor more telematics sensors, one or more real-time clocks, a J-Busprotocol architecture, one or more electronic control modules (ECM), oneor more communication ports for receiving telematics data from varioussensors (e.g., via a CAN-bus), one or more communication ports fortransmitting/sending data, one or more RFID tags/sensors, one or morepower sources, one or more data radios for communication with a varietyof communication networks, one or more memory modules 410, and one ormore programmable logic controllers (PLC). It should be noted that manyof these components may be located in the vehicle 107 but external tothe data collection device.

In one embodiment, the one or more location sensors, modules, or similarwords used herein interchangeably may be one of several components inwired or wireless communication with or available to the data collectiondevice. Moreover, the one or more location sensors may be compatiblewith GPS satellites, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems,Department of Defense (DOD) satellite systems, the European UnionGalileo positioning systems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems,Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. Thisdata can be collected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as theDecimal Degrees (DD); Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS); UniversalTransverse Mercator (UTM); Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS)coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively, triangulation may beused in connection with a device associated with a particular vehicle107 and/or the vehicle's operator and with various communication points(e.g., cellular towers or Wi-Fi access points) positioned at variouslocations throughout a geographic area to monitor the location of thevehicle 107 and/or its operator. The one or more location sensors may beused to receive latitude, longitude, altitude, heading or direction,geocode, course, position, time, and/or speed data (e.g., referred toherein as telematics data and further described herein below). The oneor more location sensors may also communicate with the mapping computingentity, the data collection device, mobile computing entity, and/orsimilar computing entities.

As indicated, in addition to the one or more location sensors, the datacollection device may include and/or be associated with one or moretelematics sensors, modules, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably. For example, the telematics sensors may include vehiclesensors, such as engine, fuel, odometer, hubometer, tire pressure,location, weight, emissions, door, and speed sensors. The telematicsdata may include, but is not limited to, speed data, emissions data, RPMdata, tire pressure data, oil pressure data, seat belt usage data,distance data, fuel data, idle data, and/or the like (e.g., referred toherein as telematics data). The telematics sensors may includeenvironmental sensors, such as air quality sensors, temperature sensors,and/or the like. Thus, the telematics data may also include carbonmonoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), EthyleneOxide (EtO), ozone (03), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and/or ammonium (NH4)data, and/or meteorological data (e.g., referred to herein as telematicsdata).

In one embodiment, the ECM may be one of several components incommunication with and/or available to the data collection device. TheECM, which may be a scalable and subservient device to the datacollection device, may have data processing capability to decode andstore analog and digital inputs from vehicle systems and sensors. TheECM may further have data processing capability to collect and presenttelematics data to the J-Bus (which may allow transmission to the datacollection device), and output standard vehicle diagnostic codes whenreceived from a vehicle's J-Bus-compatible on-board controllers 440and/or sensors. As indicated, a communication port may be one of severalcomponents available in the data collection device (or be in or as aseparate computing entity). Embodiments of the communication port mayinclude an Infrared data Association (IrDA) communication port, a dataradio, and/or a serial port. The communication port may receiveinstructions for the data collection device. These instructions may bespecific to the vehicle 107 in which the data collection device isinstalled, specific to the geographic area in which the vehicle 107 willbe traveling, specific to the function the vehicle 107 serves within afleet, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the data radio may beconfigured to communicate in accordance with multiple wirelesscommunication standards and protocols, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT,WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB, IR,NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Similarly,the customer computing entity 110 may operate in accordance withmultiple wired communication standards and protocols, such as thosedescribed above with regard to the carrier/transporter computing entity100 via a network interface 320.

3. Exemplary Item

An item/shipment 102 may be any tangible and/or physical object. Suchitems/shipments 102 may be picked up and/or delivered by acarrier/transporter. In one embodiment, an item/shipment 102 may be orbe enclosed in one or more packages, parcels, bags, containers, loads,crates, items banded together, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like,and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. Such items 102 mayinclude the ability to communicate (e.g., via a chip (e.g., anintegrated circuit chip), RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and any othersuitable communication techniques, standards, or protocols) with oneanother and/or communicate with various computing entities for a varietyof purposes. Further, such items 102 may have the capabilities andcomponents of the described with regard to the carrier/transportercomputing entities 100, networks 105, vehicles 107, customer computingentities 110, electronic door hangers 115, user computing entities 120,and/or the like. In this regard, in some example embodiments, an itemmay communicate send “to” address information/data, received “from”address information/data, unique identifier codes, and/or various otherinformation/data. In one embodiment, each item may include anitem/shipment identifier, such as an alphanumeric identifier. Suchitem/shipment identifiers may be represented as text, barcodes, tags,character strings, Aztec Codes, MaxiCodes, Data Matrices, Quick Response(QR) Codes, electronic representations, and/or the like. A uniqueitem/shipment identifier (e.g., 123456789) may be used by the carrier toidentify and track the item as it moves through the carrier'stransportation network. Further, such item/shipment identifiers can beaffixed to items by, for example, using a sticker (e.g., label) with theunique item/shipment identifier printed thereon (in human and/or machinereadable form) or an RFID tag with the unique item/shipment identifierstored therein.

4. Exemplary Customer Computing Entity

FIG. 3 provides an illustrative schematic representative of a customercomputing entity 110 that can be used in conjunction with embodiments ofthe present invention. In one embodiment, a customer may be a consignor(person sending an item/shipment 102) or a consignee (intended recipientof an item/shipment 102). In one embodiment, a customer computing entity110 may include one or more components that are functionally similar tothose of the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or thelike. In general, the terms device, system, computing entity, entity,and/or similar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, forexample, one or more computers, computing entities, desktops, mobilephones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed systems,gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses,iBeacons, proximity beacons, key fobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners,cameras, wristbands, kiosks, input terminals, servers or servernetworks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processingentities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access points, basestations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entitiesadapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes describedherein. As shown in FIG. 3 , the customer computing entity 110 mayinclude an antenna 312, a transmitter 304 (e.g., radio), a receiver 306(e.g., radio), and a processing element 308 (e.g., CPLDs,microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs,microcontrollers, and/or controllers) that provides signals to andreceives signals from the transmitter 304 and receiver 306,respectively.

The signals provided to and received from the transmitter 304 and thereceiver 306, respectively, may include signaling information inaccordance with air interface standards of applicable wireless systems.In this regard, the customer computing entity 110 may be capable ofoperating with one or more air interface standards, communicationprotocols, modulation types, and access types. More particularly, thecustomer computing entity 110 may operate in accordance with any of anumber of wireless communication standards and protocols, such as thosedescribed above with regard to the carrier/transporter computing entity100. In a particular embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 mayoperate in accordance with multiple wireless communication standards andprotocols, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN,EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree,HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Similarly, the customer computing entity110 may operate in accordance with multiple wired communicationstandards and protocols, such as those described above with regard tothe carrier/transporter computing entity 100 via a network interface320.

Via these communication standards and protocols, the customer computingentity 110 can communicate with various other entities using conceptssuch as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Short MessageService (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Dual-ToneMulti-Frequency Signaling (DTMF), and/or Subscriber Identity ModuleDialer (SIM dialer). The customer computing entity 110 can also downloadchanges, add-ons, and updates, for instance, to its firmware, software(e.g., including executable instructions, applications, programmodules), and operating system.

According to one embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 mayinclude a location determining aspects, device, module, functionality,and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, thecustomer computing entity 110 may include outdoor positioning aspects,such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude,longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed,universal time (UTC), date, and/or various other information/data. Inone embodiment, the location module can acquire data, sometimes known asephemeris data, by identifying the number of satellites in view and therelative positions of those satellites (e.g., using GPS). The satellitesmay be a variety of different satellites, including LEO satellitesystems, DOD satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioningsystems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian RegionalNavigational satellite systems, and/or the like. This data can becollected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as the DD; DMS;UTM; UPS coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively, thelocation information can be determined/identified by triangulating thecustomer computing entity's 110 position in connection with a variety ofother systems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/orthe like. Similarly, the customer computing entity 110 may includeindoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted toacquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course,direction, heading, speed, time, date, and/or various otherinformation/data. Some of the indoor systems may use various position orlocation technologies including RFID tags, indoor beacons ortransmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computingdevices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For instance, suchtechnologies may include the iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitters, NFC transmitters, and/or thelike. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in a variety ofsettings to determine/identify the location of someone or something towithin inches or centimeters.

The customer computing entity 110 may also comprise a user interface(that can include a display 316 coupled to a processing element 308)and/or a user input interface (coupled to a processing element f). Forexample, the user interface may be a user application, browser, userinterface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably executing onand/or accessible via the customer computing entity 110 to interact withand/or cause display of information from the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100, as described herein. The user input interface cancomprise any of a number of devices allowing the customer computingentity 110 to receive data, such as a keypad 318 (hard or soft), a touchdisplay, voice/speech or motion interfaces, or other input device. Inembodiments including a keypad 318, the keypad 318 can include (or causedisplay of) the conventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), andother keys used for operating the customer computing entity 110 and mayinclude a full set of alphabetic keys or set of keys that may beactivated to provide a full set of alphanumeric keys. In addition toproviding input, the user input interface can be used, for example, toactivate or deactivate certain functions, such as screen savers and/orsleep modes.

The customer computing entity 110 can also include volatile storage ormemory 322 and/or non-volatile storage or memory 324, which can beembedded and/or may be removable. For example, the non-volatile memorymay be ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards,Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM,Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. The volatile memorymay be RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM,cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. The volatile andnon-volatile storage or memory can store databases, database instances,database management systems, data, applications, programs, programmodules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code,interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the liketo implement the functions of the customer computing entity 110. Asindicated, this may include a user application that is resident on theentity or accessible through a browser or other user interface forcommunicating with the carrier/transporter computing entity 100,electronic door hanger 115, and/or various other computing entities.

In another embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 may include oneor more components or functionality that are the same or similar tothose of the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, as described ingreater detail above. As will be recognized, these architectures anddescriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are notlimiting to the various embodiments.

In one embodiment, customer computing entities 110 may be fixed withregard to their geographic locations, such as by being in fixedpositions at school entrances, bus stops, mall entrances, aisles of astore, in classrooms, on playgrounds, at intersections, on light poles,in cafeterias or hallways, on bridges, and/or the like. In anotherembodiment, customer computing entities 110 may be mobile with regard totheir geographic locations. For example, one or more of the customercomputing entities 110 may be disposed on school buses, worn by schoolbus drivers, be attached to package delivery vehicles, attached tomobile shipping containers, affixed to shopping carts or wheelchairs,positioned in passenger vehicles, and/or the like. As will berecognized, electronic door hangers 115 may also be mobile with regardto their geographic locations by being carried or worn by the respectiveusers, attached to vehicles, and/or the like. As will be recognized, avariety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt tovarious needs and circumstances.

5. Exemplary Electronic Door Hanger

FIGS. 4A-4G represent exemplary depictions of components of anelectronic door hanger 115. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger115 can be sized and shaped to hang on or around a variety of objectsincluding door knobs, door locks, door levers, other door hardware,posts, fences, mailboxes, lights, and/or the like. FIGS. 4A-4F showparticular embodiments in which electronic door hangers 115 areappropriately sized and shaped by molding plastic to hang on or aroundvarious objects. The electronic door hangers 115 can be created ormolded from one or more plastics, such as Polyethylene Terephthalate(PET or PETE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Plastic PolyvinylChloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP),Polystyrene (PS), and/or the like. As will be recognized, the electronicdoor hanger 115 can also include or be made of a variety of othermaterials as well. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 (notshown) may also include a pouch that can hold or store various papers(e.g., invoices, receipts, advertisements, and/or the like) and/orcomprise one or more labels.

In some embodiments, components of an electronic door hanger 115 mayinclude one or more display areas/portions 412, one or more processingelements 436, one or more location determining aspects 431 (such asthose described previously), one or more RFID tags 425, one or morepower supplies 440, one or more power switches 442, one or morecommunications interfaces 420, and/or the like. A communicationsinterface 420 may be a long range (e.g., radio transceiver) or shortrange (e.g., RFID tag, NFC) communications interface. A communicationsinterface 420 may be capable of communicating in one or more cellularcommunications protocols, including, but not limited to, UMTS, CDMA2000,1×RTT, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX,UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Thecommunications interface 420 may allow the electronic door hanger tocommunicate with carrier/transporter computing entities 100, customercomputing entities 110, user computing entities 120, and/or the like. Incertain embodiments, this may allow a carrier/transporter computingentity 100 (or other computing entity) to remotely wipe (e.g., delete)any information/data from the electronic door hanger 115. This may alsoallow the electronic door hanger 115 to establish connections andcommunicate with customer computing entities 110.

A communications interface 420 may be connected to a processing element436 to transmit shipping information/data to the processing element 436so that the information/data may be translated into a format that may becapable of being displayed on a display area/portion 412. A displayarea/portion 412 may be connected to a processing element 436 so thatthe display area/portion 412 may receive shipping information/data thatis to be displayed. A display area/portion 412 may refer to any type ofupdateable electronic display, whether black and white or color, such asGyricon, electrophoretic display, electrowetting display, Light-emittingdiode (LED) display, liquid crystal display (LCD), bistable LCD,electronic paper display, or any similar type of updateable electronicdisplay. A display area/portion 412 may further include displays such aselectrochromic displays, printed electronic displays, or displaysmanufactured using organic electronics or plastics electronics and usingmaterials such as conductive polymers, plastics, and small molecules.

A power supply 440 may be one of many types of power supplies, includinga battery, a power sheet, photoelectric cell, and the like. Such powersupplies 440 may be lightweight, flexible, and ultra-thin. Nevertheless,power supplies that are not lightweight, flexible, and/or ultra-thin mayalso be utilized in an electronic door hanger 115.

A power switch 442 may be any switch that may change the flow of thecurrent or voltage applied by a power supply 440 to a displayarea/portion 412. A power switch 442 may be selectively activated by aprocessing element 436 in order to provide power to illuminate a displayarea/portion 412. As will be recognized, a variety of other approachesand techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

An electronic door hanger 115 may have a variety of other features andfunctionality, including those described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,511,617 andU.S. Publ. No. 2009-0319078, which are hereby incorporated herein intheir entireties by reference.

6. Exemplary User Computing Entity

In one embodiment, a user computing entity 120 may be operated bycarrier/transporter personnel/operator (e.g., picking up and/ordelivering items to customers). In one embodiment, a user computingentity 120 may include one or more components that are functionallysimilar to those of the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, thecustomer computing entity 110, the electronic door hanger 115, and/orthe like. For example, in one embodiment, each user computing entity 120may include one or more processing elements (e.g., CPLDs,microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs,microcontrollers, and/or controllers), one or more display device/inputdevices (e.g., including user interfaces), volatile and non-volatilestorage or memory, and/or one or more communications interfaces. Forexample, the user interface may be a user application, browser, userinterface, interface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeablyexecuting on and/or accessible via the user computing entity 120 tointeract with and/or cause display of information, as described herein.This may also enable the user computing entity 120 to communicate withvarious other computing entities, such as carrier/transporter computingentities, customer computing entities 110, electronic door hangers 115,and/or various other computing entities. As will be recognized, thesearchitectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes onlyand are not limiting to the various embodiments.

III. EXEMPLARY SYSTEM OPERATION

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, and 5-8. FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, and 4G are electronic door hangersaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5A and 5Bare flowcharts illustrating operations and processes that can be used inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention. And FIGS.6-8 are exemplary input and output produced with various embodiments ofthe present invention.

1. Registration

In one embodiment, as indicated in Block 500 of FIG. 5A, the process maybegin with the enrollment/registration of one or more customers for anaccount, subscription, program, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably for notification/message services (e.g., as par to apick-up and/or delivery program). As previously noted, a customer may bean individual, a family, a family member, a company, an organization, anentity, a department within an organization, a representative of anorganization and/or person, and/or the like. To register, a customer(e.g., a customer or customer representative operating a customercomputing entity 110) may access a webpage, application, dashboard,browser, or portal of an entity that provides notification/messageservices. As will be recognized, a variety of entities can providenotification/message services to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

In one embodiment, as part of the enrollment/registration process, acustomer (e.g., a customer or customer representative operating acustomer computing entity 110) may be requested to provideinformation/data (e.g., including customer information/data, biographicinformation/data, geographic information/data, device or entityinformation/data, payment information/data, and/or the like) by thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 (e.g., via the registrationmodule). The information/data may be manually input by a customer; maybe automatically provided by allowing access to other accounts, such asAmazon.com, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, PayPal, and/or the like; may beautomatically collected by various computing entities (includingautomatic device identification); combinations thereof; and/or othertechniques and approaches. For instance, the biographic information/datamay include the customer's name, such as a first name, a last name, acompany name, an entity name, an organization name, and/or the like. Thegeographic information/data may also include one or more physicaladdresses associated with the customer (e.g., street address, city,state, postal code, and/or country). The physical addresses may beresidential or commercial addresses, geocodes, latitude and longitudepoints, virtual addresses, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the customer information/data may include one or morecommunication formats for communicating with the customer. Thecommunication formats may include text messages (e.g., SMS, MMS), emailmessages, voice messages, video messages (e.g., YouTube, the Vine),picture messages (e.g., Instagram), social media messages (e.g., privatesocial media created internally for entities, business social media(e.g., Yammer, SocialCast), or public social media (e.g., Facebook,Instagram, Twitter)), digital assistants message (e.g., Google Now,Ski), and/or a variety of other messages in various communicationformats. In addition to the one or more communication formats, thecustomer (e.g., operating a customer computing entity 110) can providethe corresponding electronic destination addresses to be used inproviding information/data associated with the notification/messageservices to the customer (e.g., email addresses, online handles, phonenumbers, customer names, etc.). For instance, for text messages, thecustomer may provide one or more cellular phone numbers. For emailmessages, the customer may provide one or more email addresses. And forvoice messages, the customer may provide one or more cellular orlandline phone numbers or other electronic destination addresses towhich audio files can be delivered. Additionally, in one embodiment,validation operations can be performed with respect to each inputelectronic destination address—to ensure accuracy. As will berecognized, a variety of other types of electronic destination addressescan be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

As will be recognized, the notification/message services may be providedas a free service or as a paid service or as part of another program. Incertain embodiments, the customer (e.g., a customer or customerrepresentative operating a customer computing entity 110) may berequested to provide payment information/data. Payments (e.g., thepayment information/data) may be in a variety of forms, such as viadebit cards, credit cards, direct credits, direct debits, cash, check,money order, Internet banking, e-commerce payment networks/systems(e.g., PayPal™ Google Wallet, Amazon Payments), virtual currencies(e.g., Bitcoins), award or reward points, and/or the like. Such paymentsmay be made using a variety of techniques and approaches, includingthrough NFC technologies such as PayPass, Android Beam, S Beam, BLE, andvarious other contactless payment systems. Further, such paymenttechnologies may include PayPal Beacon, Booker, Erply, Leaf, Leapset,Micros, PayPal Here, Revel, ShopKeep, TouchBistro, Vend, and/or thelike.

In one embodiment, device or entity information/data may also bereceived, provided, detected, assigned, collected, requested, and/orsimilar words used herein interchangeably as part of theregistration/enrollment process. As will be recognized, device or entityinformation/data may be collected for any number of devices or entitiesfor association with a customer's account, subscription, program, and/orsimilar words used herein interchangeably for notification/messageservices. The device or entity information/data may include one or moreentity or device identifiers—phone numbers, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) numbers, Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, InternationalMobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers, Internet Protocol (IP)addresses, Mobile Equipment Identifiers (MEIDs), unit identifiers (e.g.,GPS unit identifiers, Unique Device Identifiers (UDiDs), mobileidentification numbers (MINs), IMSI_S (Short IMSIs), email addresses,customer names, Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs), Integrated CircuitCard Identifiers (ICCIDs), electronic serial numbers (ESN),International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEIs), Wi-Fi IDs, RFID tags,and/or the like. The device or entity information/data may include adevice's vendor, model, specification authority, version, components,software specification and/or version, person associated with thedevice, and/or the like. The device or entity information/data may beused to track, monitor, connect with, communicate with, and/or the likethe corresponding devices or entities. As will be recognized, a varietyof other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needsand circumstances.

In one embodiment, with the appropriate information/data, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may create a customer profilefor the customer via the enrollment/registration process. Accordingly,the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may create, store, and/orhave access to various customer profiles and/or information/dataassociated with the customer profiles. In addition to at least theinformation/data described above, a customer profile may include one ormore corresponding customer names, personal identification numbers(PINs), passwords, images, tokens, keys, passcodes, challenge phrases,reminders, and/or the like (referred to herein as credentials) foraccessing accounts, applications, services, entities,notifications/messages, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, once a customer profile has been created by thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100, the customer (e.g., operatinga customer computing entity 110) can provide various preferences relatedto the notification/message services and/or have access tonotification/message services (Block 505 of FIG. 5A). For instance, thecustomer (e.g., operating a customer computing entity 110) can provide avariety of preferences, including notification/message preferencesregarding various events of interest. By way of example, the customer(e.g., a customer or customer representative operating a customercomputing entity 110) may select, define, or otherwise configure thenotifications/messages he or she wishes to receive based at least inpart on events of interest. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , thecustomer (e.g., operating a customer computing entity 110) may select toreceive notification/message services about successful or unsuccessfuldeliveries and/or pick-ups.

Although certain embodiments include using a registration-basedapproached, non-registration-based approaches are contemplated withinthe scope of the various embodiments and are also described herein.Thus, as will be recognized, embodiments of the present invention can bemodified to adapt to a variety of needs and circumstances.

2. Notification/Message Services

In one embodiment, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can automatically provide (e.g., generate, queue, and/or transmit) oneor more notifications/messages in compliance with users'notification/message preferences for events of interest (e.g.,successful or unsuccessful deliveries and/or pick-ups and/or the like).Similarly, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transportercomputing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115,user computing entity 120, and/or the like) can automatically providethe one or more notifications/messages to the electronic destinationaddresses in compliance with users' notification/message preferences.For example, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transportercomputing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115,user computing entity 120, and/or the like) can generate, queue, and/ortransmit an email message to a user's email address, a text message to auser's cellular phone, a notification/message to a designatedapplication, and/or the like for various events of interest (e.g.,successful or unsuccessful deliveries and/or pick-ups and/or the like)as defined in the user notification/message preferences.

In another embodiment, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., electronicdoor hanger 115, and/or the like) can broadcast information/dataindicating that one or more notifications/messages are available to thecustomer (e.g., consignor, consignee) with the corresponding credentials(e.g., customer names, PINs) passwords, keys, passcodes, images, tokens,challenge phrases, reminders, and/or the like). For instance, if acustomer is not registered, an electronic door hanger 115 can broadcastinformation/data regarding the pick-up or delivery.

To receive such notification/message services, one or more customercomputing entities 110 may be fixed or mobile with regard to theirgeographic locations. In one embodiment, customer computing entities 110may be fixed with regard to their geographic locations (e.g., desktopcomputers, televisions, routers, and/or the like), such as by being infixed positions at residential or commercial locations. Similarly,customer computing entities 110 may be mobile (e.g., smartphones,watches, and/or the like) with regard to their geographic locations. Aswill be recognized, electronic door hangers 115 may also be mobile withregard to their geographic locations by being carried to and placed ondoors, for instance, at customer locations. As will be recognized, avariety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt tovarious needs and circumstances.

a. Item/Shipment Information/Data for Pick-Up and/or Delivery

In one embodiment, when an item/shipment 102 is to be picked up and/ordelivered by the carrier/transporter using the carrier's transportationand logistics network, the item/shipment 102 may be associated withitem/shipment information/data. The item/shipment information/data maycomprise or be associated with input information/data, intermediateinformation/data, pick-up information/data, delivery information/data,exception information/data, tracking information/data, item-levelinformation/data, consignor information/data, consigneeinformation/data, name information/data, address information/data,billing information/data, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably.

In one embodiment, this information/data may comprise details about theitem/shipment 102 itself, such as the length, width, base, radius,height, cube/volume (e.g., cubic feet, cubic centimeters, etc.), and/orweight (e.g., pounds, grams, etc.). The information/data may alsoinclude information/data about the type of or contents of theitem/shipment 102, such as being of a special handling category. Suchinformation/data may be obtained from a scan or other inspection of theitem/shipment 102, including the scanning of a unique item/shipmentidentifier on the item/shipment 102 which refers to additionalinformation/data about the item/shipment 102. Similarly, theinformation/data may be captured when the item/shipment 102 is firstreceived by the carrier/transporter (e.g., receiving an item foringestion into the transportation and logistics network), from a usergenerating a label or unique identifier, automatic detection usingvarious systems, manually input information/data, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the information/data may comprise details about theservice level. Exemplary services levels may include Next Day Air,Overnight, Express, Next Day Air Early AM, Next Day Air Saver, Jetline,Sprintline, Secureline, 2nd Day Air, Priority, 2nd Day Air Early AM, 3Day Select, Ground, Standard, First Class, Media Mail, SurePost,Freight, and/or the like. As will be recognized, various other serviceslevels are contemplated within embodiments of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the information/data may include addressinformation/data, consignor information/data, consigneeinformation/data, and/or name information/data. The addressinformation/data may comprise the address of the consignor and/orconsignee that can be parsed by an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, customer computing entity 110,payment computing entity 115, external information/data source computingentity 120, and/or the like). The consignee information/data, consignorinformation/data, and/or name information/data for a person may includea title, a given name, a surname, a suffix, a nickname, and/or the like.The consignee information/data, consignor information/data, and/or nameinformation/data for an entity may include an entity name, entitydesignation, and/or the like. As will be recognized, a variety of otherapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

As previously indicated, the information/data may also include trackinginformation/data (of various “tracking events”) corresponding to thelocation of the item/shipment 102 in the transportation and logisticsnetwork as indicated by the tracking events, including one or moreorigin entity and destination entity pairs. To reflect the item'smovement, an item/shipment identifier associated with the item/shipment102 may, for example, be scanned or otherwise electronically read atvarious points as the item/shipment 102 is transported through thecarrier's transportation and logistics network (include successful orunsuccessful pick-ups or deliveries). As indicated, these events may bereferred to as tracking events. For the tracking events, anitem/shipment identifier may be automatically scanned by a barcode orMaxiCode device, an RFID interrogator, a camera controller, acarrier/transporter employee using a customer computing entity 110,and/or the like. In one embodiment, each time an item/shipmentidentifier is scanned or read, an appropriate device/entity can generateinformation/data associated with the tracking event and transmit theappropriate information/data (e.g., item/shipment identifier, locationand time of the scan or reading, event type, bundle/container, and/orthe like) to the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 for storage inthe item/shipment database. That is, during the item's transit from anorigin to a delivery location, intermediate information/data and otherinformation/data from tracking events may be obtained at variouswaypoints for storage.

In one embodiment, the tracking information/data may include exceptioninformation/data and/or delivery information/data. For instance, ifthere is a problem or exception to the normal handling procedures for anitem/shipment 102, exception information/data may be obtained andstored. Exception information/data may indicate when and why aparticular item/shipment 102 was not deliverable (e.g., incorrectprimary address information/data, missing secondary information/data,consignee/consignor moved, and/or the like). Delivery information/datamay include information/data obtained about an item/shipment 102 when itis delivered to the consignee, locker, delivery location, and/or thelike. For example, a delivery scan may be accomplished by the person ordriver (e.g., carrier/transporter personnel/operator) making thedelivery via a customer computing entity 110 to record deliveryinformation/data, such as the date, time, location, consignee identity,consignee signature, delivery location, and other information/datarelated to the delivery. As will be recognized, a variety of otherapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

b. Pick-Ups and/or Deliveries

In one embodiment, carrier/transporter personnel/operator for thecarrier/transporter can visit customer locations (e.g., consignorlocations and/or consignee locations) to pick-up and/or deliveritems/shipments that will be or have been transported through thecarrier's transportation and logistics network. For instance, uponarriving at a pick-up location for an item/shipment 102,carrier/transporter personnel/operator can access or input item/shipmentinformation/data for an item/shipment 102. Similarly, upon arriving at adelivery location for an item/shipment 102 to a consignee,carrier/transporter personnel/operator can access item/shipmentinformation/data for the item/shipment 102 that includes the consignee'sname and delivery location via a user computing entity 120. Thecorresponding item/shipment information/data can be displayed by theuser computing entity 120 for viewing by carrier/transporterpersonnel/operator.

In the event an item/shipment 102 is successfully picked up or deliveredbased on the provided item/shipment information/data,carrier/transporter personnel/operator can input a corresponding entry(e.g., via a customer computing entity 110) indicating when, where,and/or from or to whom the item/shipment 102 was picked up ordelivered—which can then be provided by carrier/transporterpersonnel/operator (e.g., operating user computing entities 120) to avariety of computing entities for storage as item/shipmentinformation/data. Then, an appropriate computing (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100 or a user computing entity 120operated by carrier/transporter personnel/operator) can provideitem/shipment information/data to an electronic door hanger 115 usingany of a variety of communication protocols at the pick-up or deliverylocation. Thus, the item/shipment information/data provided and receivedby the electronic door hanger 115 may include the what, when, where,and/or from or to whom the item/shipment 102 was picked up or delivered.The electronic door hanger 115 may also be provided and receiveinformation/data associated with the corresponding customer's profiles,such as device or entity information/data and/or credentials that mayallow registered customers to access the information/data stored by theelectronic door hanger 115. With such information/data,carrier/transporter personnel/operator can leave the electronic doorhanger 115 at the pick-up or delivery location to be discovered locallyor remotely by one or more customer computing entities 110 (Block 510 ofFIG. 5A). The electronic door hanger 115 can communicate/transmit and/ordisplay (e.g., via the display area/portion) the item/shipmentinformation/data.

Similarly, in the event an item/shipment 102 is not successfully pickedup or delivered, carrier/transporter personnel/operator can input acorresponding entry (e.g., via a customer computing entity 110)indicating when, where, and/or why the item/shipment 102 was notsuccessfully picked up or delivered (e.g., not home for signature,weather conditions, and/or the like)—which can then be provided bycarrier/transporter personnel/operator (e.g., operating user computingentities 120) to a variety of computing entities for storage asitem/shipment information/data. Then, an appropriate computing (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100 or a user computing entity 120operated by carrier/transporter personnel/operator) can provideitem/shipment information/data to an electronic door hanger 115 usingany of a variety of communication protocols. As will be recognized, theitem/shipment information/data may include information/data indicatingwhen, where, and/or why the item/shipment 102 was not successfullypicked up or delivered. The item/shipment information/data may includeinformation/data providing instructions, locations, contact information,and/or the like to assist in successfully completing pick-up or deliveryof an item/shipment 102. The electronic door hanger 115 may also beprovided and receive information/data associated with the correspondingcustomer's profiles, such as device or entity information/data and/orcredentials that may allow registered customers to access theinformation/data stored by the electronic door hanger 115. With suchinformation/data, carrier/transporter personnel/operator can then leavethe electronic door hanger 115 at or proximate the unsuccessful pick-upor delivery location to be discovered locally or remotely by one or morecustomer computing entities 110 (Block 510 of FIG. 5A). The electronicdoor hanger 115 can communicate/transmit and/or display (e.g., via thedisplay area/portion) the item/shipment information/data.

In certain embodiments, electronic door hangers 115 can be placed atfuture pick-up and delivery locations as a “pre-alert” that anitem/shipment 102 is scheduled to be picked up or delivered in the nearfutures (e.g., hours, days, and/or the like). This can allow theconsignor or consignee to act and arrange ensure that he or she isavailable for the pick-up or delivery and/or make alternate arrangementsas described in U.S. application Ser. No. 14/025,893, which is herebyincorporated in its entirety by reference.

3. Enrollment/Registration Based Notifications/Messages

a. Connection and Enrollment/Registration Based Notifications/Messages

In one embodiment, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can automatically connect with and communicate item/shipmentinformation/data to customer computing entities 110 for customersregistered for notification/message services once an electronic doorhanger 115 is placed proximate a pick-up or delivery location (Block 525of FIG. 5A). In certain embodiments this may also require that anappropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computingentity 120, and/or the like) be within a range, geofence, zone ofconfidence, tolerance, and/or the like of the residential or commercialaddresses associated with the customer based at least in part on, forexample, geocodes, latitude and longitude points, and/or the likeassociated with the same.

In these embodiments, it will be recognized that certain communicationtechnologies and protocols have range limitations for directlyconnecting to and/or directly communicating with computing entities(e.g., RFID, point-to-point, peer-to-peer, WLAN, WPAN, and/or the like).For example, various NFC technologies may have range limitations of lessthan 12-36 inches. Bluetooth technologies may have range limitationsfrom 20 feet to 300 feet. Wi-Fi Direct may have range limitations of 600feet. LTE and Wi-Max, for example, may have range limitations of 1-30miles. Thus, depending on the application or context of thenotifications/messages desired, various communication technologies andprotocols can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances. Forinstance, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct technologies may be used forelectronic door hangers 115 to connect or communicate with customercomputing entities 110 in relatively close proximity (e.g., electronicdoor hangers 115 placed on a front door that will connect to customercomputing entities 110 with the specified range). Similarly, LTE,Wi-Max, and/or other technologies may be used for electronic doorhangers 115 to directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more networks)connect or communicate with customer computing entities 110 and/orcarrier/transporter computing entities 100 in remote locations. As willbe recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be usedto adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, to create a connection between a customer computingentity 110 and an electronic door hanger 115, a trusted relationship canbe established between the entities/devices and/or credentials exchangedthat can be stored by each device. In the Bluetooth context,establishing a connection with the appropriate credentials available maybegin with a phase called “inquiry” through which either an electronicdoor hanger 115 or a customer computing entity 110 sends an inquiryrequesting a response from all capable entities found within its range.The electronic door hangers 115 or customer computing entities 110within range would then receive the query and reply. The appropriatecustomer computing entity 110 (with the appropriate credentials) and theelectronic door hanger 115 can then establish a connection. As will berecognized, other communication technologies and protocols (e.g., NFC,Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, Wi-Fi Direct, and/or the like) can be used in asimilar manner in terms of connecting and disconnecting with electronicdoor hangers 115. That is, the other communication technologies andprotocols can establish connections between customer computing entities110 and electronic door hangers 115. In one embodiment, the electronicdoor hangers 115 or customer computing entities 110 may attempt toestablish such connections using the appropriate credentials regularly,periodically, continuously, during certain time periods or time frames,on certain days, upon determining the occurrence of one or morepredefined triggers/events, combinations thereof, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, once the computing entities (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)establish a connection or communication, an appropriate computing entity(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can provide notifications/messages to the customer computing entity 110regarding successful pick-ups and/or deliveries and/or unsuccessfulpick-ups and/or deliveries (Block 530 of FIG. 5A). In certainembodiments, this allows the carrier/transporter personnel/operatorbeing physically present at the delivery point to deliverinformation/data to the customer. Continuing with the above example, anappropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computingentity 120, and/or the like) may determine/identify when a customercomputing entity 110 and an electronic door hanger 115 registered fornotification/message services are connected (e.g., communicating withone another). For instance, assume John Smith has registered fornotifications/messages for a pick-up and/or delivery program, and hissmartphone and an electronic door hanger 115 on his front door establisha connection with one another (e.g., the entities automatically connectvia Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC). Once a connection is establishedbetween the entities/devices, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can provide one or more notifications/messages in accordance with Mr.Smith's notification/message preferences. For instance, thenotifications/messages can be provided by the electronic door hanger 115and/or the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 using Mr. Smith'snotification/message preferences. The same or similarnotifications/messages can be displayed through the display area/portion412 of the electronic door hanger 115 as well. The display area/portioncan also display advertisements, invoices, coupons, incentives, and/orthe like.

In terms of the notification/message preferences, FIG. 6 showsillustrative notification/message preferences. In these examples, thenotification/message preferences include emails for successfuldeliveries and text messages for successful pick-ups regarding the same.As will be recognized, notifications/messages can be provided forunsuccessful pick-ups and/or deliveries. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment inwhich an email message is provided by an appropriate computing entity(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)regarding a successful delivery instructing the customer to retrieve hispackage and the electronic door hanger 115. The notification/messageindicates that a package was delivered and that the customer can pick upthe package and the electronic door hanger 115 at his front door. FIG. 8shows an embodiment in which a text message is provided by anappropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computingentity 120, and/or the like) regarding an unsuccessful delivery. Inparticular, the text messages indicates that the delivery of the shoesfrom Company XYZ was unsuccessful, but can be completed by taking theelectronic door hanger 115 to the local carrier/transporter facility toretrieve the shoes.

In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 can be used by thecarrier/transporter as a “claim ticket” that can be read or scanned toprovide the corresponding item/shipment 102 to the customer at acarrier/transporter facility. Such carrier/transporter facilities can bestaffed facilities (will call) or unstaffed facilities (e.g., lockersand/or the like). Picking up the corresponding item/shipment 102 mayrequire providing a form of government identification or otheracceptable form of identification along with any specified credentials.As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques canbe used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

b. Proximity and Enrollment/Registration Based Notifications/Messages

In one embodiment, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can monitor the location of customer computing entities 110 andautomatically communicate item/shipment information/data to customercomputing entities 110 for customers registered for notification/messageservices once an electronic door hanger 115 is placed proximate apick-up or delivery location. To do so, an appropriate computing entity(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)may monitor the location of one or more corresponding customer computingentities 110 regularly, periodically, continuously, during certain timeperiods or time frames, on certain days, upon determining the occurrenceof one or more predefined triggers/events, combinations thereof, and/orthe like (Block 515 of FIG. 5A). The one or more predefinedtriggers/events may include the electronic door hanger 115 (a) beingturned on or off; (b) being activated; (c) being placed on a door; (d)being moved out of a geo-fenced area; (e) being moved into a geo-fencedarea; and/or a variety of other triggers/events. As will be recognized,a variety of other triggers/events can be used to adapt to various needsand circumstances.

Generally, the locations of one or more electronic door hangers 115and/or one or more customer computing entities 120 can be monitored byany of a variety of computing entities—carrier/transporter computingentities 100, electronic door hangers 115, user computing entities 120,and/or the like. For example, the locations of one or more of theelectronic door hangers 115 and/or one or more customer computingentities 120 may be monitored with the aid of or in coordination withlocation-determining devices, location-determining aspects,location-determining features, location-determining functionality,location-determining sensors, and/or other location services. Such mayinclude GPS; cellular-assisted GPS; real time location systems or servertechnologies using received signal strength indicators from a Wi-Finetwork); triangulating positions in connection with a variety of othersystems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/or thelike; and/or the like. By using the locations of one or more of theelectronic door hangers 115 and/or one or more customer computingentities 120, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transportercomputing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115,user computing entity 120, and/or the like) can determine, for example,when an electronic door hanger 115 and/or a customer computing entity120 are within a configurable distance from one another.

In one embodiment, a configurable distance may be a distance, range,zone of confidence, geofence, tolerance, and/or similar words usedherein interchangeably. For example, in one embodiment, the configurabledistance may be plus or minus (±) a specific distance or range using acoordinate system (e.g., DD, DMS, UTM, and/or UPS). As will berecognized, a configurable distance may be in a variety of formats, suchas degrees, minutes, seconds, feet, meters, miles (e.g., 3, 15, 30, or50 feet), kilometers, and/or the like. Continuing with the aboveexample, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transportercomputing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115,user computing entity 120, and/or the like) may use a configurabledistance of ±0.000001, ±0.000001 in the DD coordinate system (orconfigurable distances of ±0.000100, ±0.000100 or ±0.000010, ±0.000010)to determine/identify when an electronic door hanger 115 and/or acustomer computing entity 120 registered for notification/messageservices are within a configurable distance of each other. For instance,assume an electronic door hanger is placed on a front door located at33.7869128, −84.3875602, and a customer computing entity 110 for JohnSmith (John Smith's phone) is located at 33.7869129, −84.3875601 when hepulls into his driveway. At that point, the two entities would be withinthe configurable distance of ±0.000001, ±0.000001. An appropriatecomputing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) monitoring the entities can make thisdetermination/identification.

In the event the two entities are within a configurable distance fromeach other (e.g., associated with one another), an appropriate computingentity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102,vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) can provide notifications/message regarding successfulpick-ups and/or deliveries and/or unsuccessful pick-ups and/ordeliveries and/or establish a connection with the corresponding customercomputing entity 110 (as previously described)—Block 520 of FIG. 5A. Forinstance, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transportercomputing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115,user computing entity 120, and/or the like) can provide one or morenotifications/messages in accordance with Mr. Smith'snotification/message preferences. For instance, thenotifications/messages can be provided by the electronic door hanger 115and/or the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 using Mr. Smith'snotification/message preferences. The same or similarnotifications/messages can be displayed through the display area/portion412 of the electronic door hanger 115 as well. The display area/portioncan also display advertisements, invoices, coupons, incentives, and/orthe like.

As previously described, notifications/messages can be provided forsuccessful pick-ups and/or deliveries and/or unsuccessful pick-upsand/or deliveries. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which an email messageis provided by an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)regarding a successful delivery instructing the customer to retrieve hispackage and the electronic door hanger 115. The notification/messageindicates that a package was delivered and that the customer can pick upthe package and the electronic door hanger 115 at his front door. FIG. 8shows an embodiment in which a text message is provided by anappropriate computing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computingentity 120, and/or the like) regarding an unsuccessful delivery. Inparticular, the text messages indicates that the delivery of the shoesfrom Company XYZ was unsuccessful, but can be completed by taking theelectronic door hanger 115 to the local carrier/transporter facility toretrieve the shoes. Further, the electronic door hanger 115 can be usedby the carrier/transporter as a “claim ticket” that can be read orscanned to provide the corresponding item/shipment 102 to the customerat the carrier/transporter facility. Picking up the correspondingitem/shipment 102 may require providing a form of governmentidentification or other acceptable form of identification along with anyspecified credentials. As will be recognized, a variety of otherapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

4. Non-Enrollment/Registration Based Notifications/Messages

In one embodiment, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can automatically connect with and/or automatically communicateitem/shipment information/data to customer computing entities 110 and/ortheir associated networks (both terms used herein interchangeably) forcustomers who are not registered/enrolled as described in previousembodiments. This may be advantageous when a carrier/transporter desiresto communicate information/data but does not have knowledge beforehandof a customer's electronic destination addresses and/or the like. Incertain embodiments this may also require that an appropriate computingentity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102,vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) be within a range, geofence, zone of confidence,tolerance, and/or the like of the residential or commercial addressesassociated with the customer based at least in part on, for example,geocodes, latitude and longitude points, and/or the like associated withthe same.

a. Open and Non-Registration Based Notifications/Messages

In one embodiment, to do so, once an electronic door hanger 115 has beenplaced at a pick-up or delivery location, the electronic door hanger 115can automatically connect to one or more open customer computingentities 110 and/or open associated networks (Blocks 535, 540 of FIG.5B) within range. In other embodiments, various other computing entities(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,user computing entity 120, and/or the like) can be used in place or inaddition to the electronic door hanger 115 as described below. The termopen refers to a network or connection that can be joined by anyone(e.g., no credentials are required). For instance, customer computingentities 110 and/or their associated networks (both terms used hereininterchangeably) can broadcast identifying information/data (e.g.,entity or network name, user friendly name, ID, and/or the like) using avariety of techniques and approaches. For example, the customercomputing entities 110 and/or their associated networks can broadcastthis information/data using basic service sets (BSSs), extended servicesets (ESSs), service set identifiers (SSIDs), Bluetooth inquiry states,and/or a variety of other protocols and techniques. In certainembodiments, in addition to broadcasting identifying information/data(e.g., entity or network name, user friendly name, ID, and/or the like),the customer computing entities 110 and/or their associated networks(both terms used herein interchangeably) can provide the passcode, keys,and/or other credentials necessary for establishing communication to anydevices/entities within range. Thus, the devices/entities and networksare open. In one embodiment, each residential or commercial location mayhave a dedicated customer computing entity 110 and network available forservice providers to connect to and provide information/data to thecorresponding customers (e.g., to indicate a visit, service, or repairwas attempted or made). In these examples, the identifyinginformation/data may comprise the address associated with theresidential or commercial location.

In certain embodiments, the electronic door hanger 115 can automaticallyconnect to a customer computing entity 110 and/or an associated networkprovided that credentials are not required or were received for thesame. In other embodiments, various other computing entities can connectto and communicate with the customer computing entity 110. For instance,an open customer computing entity 110 and/or associated network canbroadcast its identifying information/data (e.g., entity or network nameor ID) and/or credentials using a variety of techniques and approaches.Or the customer computing entity 110 and/or associated network may notrequire any credentials. The electronic door hanger 115 can thenautomatically connect to and communicate item/shipment information/datato any open customer computing entities 110 and/or networks within rangeand with which it is connected. Thus, the electronic door hanger 115 mayconnect to and communicate with a plurality of customer computingentities 110 and/or networks within its range. For instance, for theopen customer computing entities 110 and/or networks, certaincommunication technologies and protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth,Wi-Max, LTE, RFID, point-to-point, peer-to-peer, WLAN, WPAN, and/or thelike) have range limitations for directly connecting to and/or directlycommunicating with computing entities via the same. As will berecognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used toadapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, once the computing entities (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)establish a connection or communication, an appropriate computing entity(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can provide notifications/messages to any connected customer computingentities 110 and/or networks regarding successful pick-ups and/ordeliveries and/or unsuccessful pick-ups and/or deliveries (Block 545 ofFIG. 5B). In certain embodiments, this allows the carrier/transporterpersonnel/operator being physically present at the delivery point todeliver information/data to the customer. To do so, an appropriatecomputing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) may first receive an indication that a connection wasestablished and information/data identifying the customer oritem/shipment 102. Continuing with the above example, an appropriatecomputing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) may provide such notifications/messages to allconnected customer computing entities 110 and/or networks. For instance,assume John Doe has not registered for notifications/messages for apick-up and/or delivery program, but his home router, computer, orsmartphone (e.g., open customer computing entities 110 and/or networks)and an electronic door hanger 115 on his front door establish aconnection with one another (e.g., the entities automatically connectvia open Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct). Once a connection is establishedbetween the entities/devices, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can provide one or more notifications/messages regarding attempted(e.g., successful/unsuccessful) pick-ups and/or deliveries. Thenotifications/messages can be provided by the electronic door hanger 115and/or the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 to Mr. Doe'scustomer computing entities 110 and/or networks. The same or similarnotifications/messages can be displayed through the display area/portion412 of the electronic door hanger 115 as well. The display area/portioncan also display advertisements, invoices, coupons, incentives, and/orthe like. In certain embodiments, only such information/data is providedto the customer computing entity 110 and/or associated network withoutthe electronic door hanger 115 being left or placed at the customerlocation.

In one embodiment, notifications/messages may include emails, textmessages, application-based messages, and/or other types ofnotifications/messages based on the capabilities of the connectedcustomer computing entities 110 and/or networks. As will be recognized,notifications/messages can be provided for unsuccessful pick-ups and/ordeliveries. The notifications/messages can provide information/dataabout successful pick-ups and/or deliveries and/or unsuccessful pick-upsand/or deliveries. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 canbe used by the carrier/transporter as a “claim ticket” that can be reador scanned to provide the corresponding item/shipment 102 to thecustomer at a carrier/transporter facility. Such carrier/transporterfacilities can be staffed facilities (will call) or unstaffed facilities(e.g., lockers and/or the like). Picking up the correspondingitem/shipment 102 may require providing a form of governmentidentification or other acceptable form of identification along with anyspecified credentials. As will be recognized, a variety of otherapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

b. Closed and Non-Registration Based Notifications/Messages

In one embodiment, once an electronic door hanger 115 has been placed ata pick-up or delivery location, the electronic door hanger 115 canautomatically connect to one or more closed customer computing entities110 and/or closed associated networks (Blocks 535, 540 of FIG. 5B)within range. The term closed refers to a network or connection thatrequired credentials to join. In one embodiment, each residential orcommercial location may have a dedicated customer computing entity 110and network available for service providers to connect to and provideinformation/data to the corresponding customers (e.g., to indicate avisit, service, or repair was attempted or made). In these examples, theidentifying information/data may comprise the address associated withthe residential or commercial location.

In one embodiment, certain implementations presume the ability toactivate or push a “connection” button (e.g., an actual “connection”button or virtual/soft “connection” button) for a customer computingentity 110 and/or associated network. The actual/physical “connection”button or virtual/soft “connection” button can be used to temporarilyopen a closed computing entity or network to computing entities/devicesfor a configurable period of time. Such technologies include Push 'NConnect, Push Button Connect, Push-Button-Connect, and/or similar and/orrelated technologies. Thus, the actual/physical “connection” button orvirtual/soft “connection” button may be a doorbell, a placard, a softinterface, a physical button/key, a virtual/soft button/key, and/or thelike. In these examples, a connection button can be pushed or activatedon a customer computing entity 110 and/or associated network—includingby use of biometrics, facial recognition, and/or the like. For instance,a placard (e.g., comprising a barcode) or doorbell can be positioned ata residence or commercial location that activates a customer computingentity 110 and/or associated network to allow for entities (e.g., anelectronic door hanger 115 and/or other devices and entities) toautomatically connect to the same for a configurable period of time(e.g., 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and/or the like). During this configurableperiod of time, the customer computing entity 110 and/or associatednetwork can allow connections from any entities/devices within range(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entities 100, items 102, vehicles107, electronic door hangers 115, user computing entities 120, and/orthe like)—including providing any necessary credentials to theconnecting devices/entities.

In one embodiment, once the computing entities (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)establish a connection or communication, an appropriate computing entity(e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can provide notifications/messages to any connected customer computingentities 110 and/or networks regarding successful pick-ups and/ordeliveries and/or unsuccessful pick-ups and/or deliveries (Block 545 ofFIG. 5B). In certain embodiments, this allows the carrier/transporterpersonnel/operator being physically present at the delivery point todeliver information/data to the customer. To do so, an appropriatecomputing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) may first receive an indication that a connection wasestablished and information/data identifying the customer oritem/shipment 102. Continuing with the above example, an appropriatecomputing entity (e.g., carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120,and/or the like) may provide such notifications/messages to allconnected customer computing entities 110 and/or networks. For instance,assume John Doe has not registered for notifications/messages for apick-up and/or delivery program, but his home router, computer, orsmartphone (e.g., open customer computing entities 110 and/or networks)and an electronic door hanger 115 on his front door establish aconnection with one another (e.g., the entities automatically connectvia Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct). Once a connection is established betweenthe entities/devices, an appropriate computing entity (e.g.,carrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like)can provide one or more notifications/messages regarding attempted(e.g., successful/unsuccessful) pick-ups and/or deliveries. Thenotifications/messages can be provided by the electronic door hanger 115and/or the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 to Mr. Doe'scustomer computing entities 110 and/or networks. The same or similarnotifications/messages can be displayed through the display area/portion412 of the electronic door hanger 115 as well. The display area/portioncan also display advertisements, invoices, coupons, incentives, and/orthe like. In certain embodiments, only such information/data is providedto the customer computing entity 110 and/or associated network withoutthe electronic door hanger 115 being left or placed at the customerlocation.

In one embodiment, notifications/messages may include emails, textmessages, application-based messages, and/or other types ofnotifications/messages based on the capabilities of the connectedcustomer computing entities 110 and/or networks. As will be recognized,notifications/messages can be provided for unsuccessful pick-ups and/ordeliveries. The notifications/messages can provide information/dataabout successful pick-ups and/or deliveries and/or unsuccessful pick-upsand/or deliveries. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 canbe used by the carrier/transporter as a “claim ticket” that can be reador scanned to provide the corresponding item/shipment 102 to thecustomer at a carrier/transporter facility. Such carrier/transporterfacilities can be staffed facilities (will call) or unstaffed facilities(e.g., lockers and/or the like). Picking up the correspondingitem/shipment 102 may require providing a form of governmentidentification or other acceptable form of identification along with anyspecified credentials. As will be recognized, a variety of otherapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

IV. CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A lockable electronic hanger comprising: afirst portion defining an integrated opening, wherein the integratedopening is sized and shaped to hang on or around an object; a secondportion positioned adjacent to and integrally formed with the firstportion; a locking mechanism; and at least one processor and at leastone memory including program code located within the first portion orthe second portion, wherein the at least one memory and the program codeare configured, with the at least one processor, to at least: receive anelectronic destination address of a user; receive carrier-generatedinformation regarding a delivery of an item associated with the userfrom a carrier computing entity; deactivate the locking mechanism to anopen configuration in response to receipt of the carrier-generatedinformation regarding the delivery of the item; provide a notificationto the electronic destination address of the user regarding the deliveryof the item in response to receipt of the carrier-generated information;and delete the carrier-generated information from the at least onememory based on an instruction from the carrier computing entityrequesting deletion of the carrier-generated information.
 2. Thelockable electronic hanger of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism atleast partially defines the integrated opening, and the lockingmechanism is controllable to move between a closed configuration and theopen configuration.
 3. The lockable electronic hanger of claim 1,wherein the locking mechanism is deactivated remotely by a carriercomputing entity.
 4. The lockable electronic hanger of claim 1, whereinthe locking mechanism is deactivated remotely by a user computingentity.
 5. The lockable electronic hanger of claim 1, wherein thelocking mechanism is deactivated remotely by a customer computingentity.
 6. The lockable electronic hanger of claim 1, wherein thelocking mechanism is deactivated locally by a carrier computing entity.7. The lockable electronic hanger of claim 1, wherein the lockingmechanism is deactivated locally by a user computing entity.
 8. Thelockable electronic hanger of claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism isdeactivated locally by a customer computing entity.
 9. The lockableelectronic hanger of claim 1, further comprising a power supply.
 10. Theelectronic door hanger of claim 1, wherein the electronic door hanger isat least partially constructed from of one or more of PolyethyleneTerephthalate (PET or PETE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), PlasticPolyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene(PP), or Polystyrene (PS).
 11. The electronic door hanger of claim 1,wherein the object is a mailbox.
 12. The electronic door hanger of claim1, wherein the object is a locker.
 13. A method for controlling alockable electronic hanger, the method comprising: wirelessly receivingcarrier-generated data associated with shipment of an item for a userand an electronic address of the user; deactivating a locking mechanismof a lockable electronic hanger to an open configuration subsequent toreceiving the carrier-generated data associated with the shipment of theitem; providing a notification to the electronic destination address ofthe user based on the carrier-generated data associated with shipment ofthe item; and deleting the carrier-generated information from at leastone memory of the lockable electronic hanger based on an instructionfrom the carrier computing entity requesting deletion of thecarrier-generated information subsequent to providing the notification.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the locking mechanism is deactivatedremotely by one of a carrier computing entity, a user computing entity,or a customer computing entity.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein thelocking mechanism is deactivated locally by one of a carrier computingentity, a user computing entity, or a customer computing entity.